


everybody will turn and look back at me

by dancingassassin



Category: Gundam 00, Tales of Xillia
Genre: Action, Crossover, Ludger has no idea what's going on, Revolutionary Girl Utena AU, Sword Fighting, duels involve kicking right?, ludger gets in on the fights
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-30
Updated: 2016-05-30
Packaged: 2018-07-11 06:11:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7032514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dancingassassin/pseuds/dancingassassin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>written for embyronicharmonic.</p><p>Revolutionary Girl Utena meets Tales of Xillia 2 and Gundam 00. Ludger gets dragged into the duels on accident. He has no idea what's going on - he just wants to protect his friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	everybody will turn and look back at me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EmbryonicHarmonic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmbryonicHarmonic/gifts).



Ludger was leaving his last class of the day, tired from a long day of getting general education credits out of the way before he could start into specialty classes. He was settling into Ohtori relatively well, though it still felt a bit weird. Like he didn’t exactly belong. But still, it was a nice enough school and he was enjoying the nicer quality of education, at least.

He made his way out into the quad, hands gripping to the straps of his backpack. Ludger kept going through everything he needed to accomplish that night - get back to the dorm room, make dinner (as a means to practice culinary skills), do homework, clean up bedroom slightly, maybe call Julius…

But his thoughts were interrupted when he saw Setsuna by the rose garden. This was a normal occurrence. Ludger primarily saw the other man lingering around that area. The difference this time was the tall, smirking student president leaning against the glass wall of the rose garden. There was a strange tension through the redhead’s body, one that seemed decidedly out of place with his faux-relaxed posture. Out of what seemed to be nowhere, Ali was slapping Setsuna across the face, for what seemed to be no reason.

Ludger gasped and was rushing forward before he knew what he was doing. He couldn’t stand for that. What kind of person just hit another person like that? His hands gripped onto Ali’s uniform, dragging him bodily away from Setsuna and punching him before he could stop himself.

“Excuse me?” Ali shoved Ludger’s hands away before rubbing at his cheek. Faint redness was spreading across his tanned skin, a few scrapes visible from where Ludger’s knuckles had hit. He was smiling, but the expression in no way made it to his eyes - his eyes were cold and hard. There was an amused tone to Ali’s voice, one tinged with the very slightest bit of irritation. Ludger might not have heard it if he didn’t observe people so often.

“You shouldn’t be hitting him! He did nothing wrong.” Ludger glared up at the taller man, hands clenched into tight fists.

“Please, I _own_ him. I can do what I want with him.” Ali snorted, hand reaching for Setsuna’s wrist, clearly intending to drag him away.

“He’s a person, you can’t just own a person. Leave him alone!” Ludger shoved Ali away from Setsuna again, teal eyes narrowed to slits and teeth slightly bared.

Ali tilted his head to the side, all pleasantries from his expression completely gone. “Lay your hands on me again and we’ll be having a duel to settle this.” There was a warning tone to his voice - one Ludger clearly recognized.

But the man was reaching for Setsuna’s wrist again and Ludger couldn’t just sit back and let one of his friends get dragged away by someone who had hit him. He also had to wonder why Setsuna was just sitting there and taking it - no one deserved to be hit like that, but most people would at least try and get away. Nope, not Setsuna. He’d just taken the hit without question, without _flinching_ even. Still…Ludger could help him get away from the situation. Or at least figure out what was going on.

“You clearly don’t understand who you’re dealing with.” Ali straightened up to his full - and quite considerable - height. “Meet me at the dueling arena in two hours. Win and I won’t touch Setsuna, but if I win?” He laughed, hands settling onto his hips. “Well. I keep doing what I’m doing.”

A duel? What did he even mean? Ludger frowned slightly as he tried to process exactly what Ali was referring to. But if he wanted Setsuna out of whatever his situation was, then he’d have to fight. Good thing he actually knew how.

“Fine. I’ll meet you there.”

_______

Ludger was mildly irritated that he’d lost out on his precious homework and cooking time, but this was to protect a friend, so there was part of him that really didn’t mind at all. Despite the fact that he was helping someone, there was unease clenching his stomach. Something about this whole situation just felt _wrong_. There was part of his mind telling him that he should stay away from this, that he didn’t belong anywhere near the dueling arena.

But he walked there anyway.

He was greeted by some rather stunning architecture and no discernable door. Ludger examined every inch carefully, only finding a part that protruded out slightly.

“Wait…how do I get in?”

He knelt down to examine it, the necklace he wore around his neck pulling toward the protrusion. A drop of water touched it, a bolt of energy going through him. The walls pulled apart, revealing a large, spiraling staircase that seemed to go on forever.

It felt like it took ages to get all the way up the stairs. At least it was a warm up for the duel - Ludger hadn’t managed to get one in between shoving instant food down his throat. He was just glad that he’d given himself enough time to get there - he hadn’t been anticipated endless stairs.

The stairs opened up into a broad arena - light in coloration - with only a scant fence to keep you from careening to your death. Ludger would have to keep that in mind, he was agile and tended to flip as a means of dodging. That was going to work against him with such a low fence. He stepped out into the open, eyes tracking down to the pink lines etched into the ground of the arena - he had to wonder what they actually were, what sort of design they made.

“How the hell did you get up here?” Ali was standing next to Setsuna, hand on the small of the younger man’s back.

Ludger tilted his head and frowned. Apparently Ali had challenged him to a duel with the impression that he wouldn’t be able to get to the arena - a forced loss for Ludger. That was pretty low. He pulled the necklace out of his uniform, the rose seal ring glinting in the light. “This seemed to unlock the door down there.”

Ali’s eyes went wide for a moment, his face contorting into a scowl.  It almost looked like he was going to say something else, but thought better of it. “Well. Guess we should get started then.”

Ludger nodded, hand wrapping around the allium orb in his pocket.  Setsuna was shoved toward Ludger, a strange, teal colored rose pinned to Ludger’s shirt. He couldn’t help but notice Setsuna’s dead eyes, the cold stare, everything. He didn’t seem right. Setsuna retreated and pinned a rose to Ali’s chest, a red one this time.

He was ready - he’d slide into a fighting stance once he saw what kind of weapon Ali was wielding. In fact, why wasn’t he already holding a weapon? It didn’t make sense to come to a duel without something to fight with - unless he’d misread the situation? Maybe it was hand to hand?

His questions were answered quickly enough, though. Ali dipped Setsuna back, the young man’s back bending to the point that it looked like it was about to snap. A hand rested over his chest, gripping at something glowing and protruding from Setsuna’s chest. Ludger was about to cry out, to tell Ali to stop, when he saw the older man pull a wicked looking blade from his friend.

“What the hell…” Ludger was staring at the sight before him, almost deafened by the bizarreness of the situation.

Before he could question anything else, Ali was tearing at him. No en garde, no notice, no _nothing_. Ludger summoned his twin blades to his hands, instinctively parrying the strike. Ali was fast, deceptively so. He was going to have to be careful with this situation. The clang of steel might have startled anyone else, but Ludger had been exposed to _unique_ training throughout his childhood.

“That’s the last block you’ll be getting.” Ali snarled as he broke away from Ludger, almost instantly out of range for attack.

The cocky attitude was enough to make Ludger _really_ want to pound his opponent into the ground, though. There was no need to be so full of yourself, at least not in Ludger’s mind. His thoughts were interrupted as Ali was sliding back into attack range.

This time Ludger backflipped out of the way, landing neatly just out of range. Two could play at the dancing around game. He wanted to get a feel of how this man fought before he really dove into this. Ludger didn’t really know the conditions for victory either - that was another bit he’d have to observe. This was a battle of patience, he couldn’t just rush through it and get disqualified because no one explained the rules to him.

“I’ll give that you’re quick.” Ali’s posture shifted slightly, obviously trained form, but slightly looser. Faster. "But you’re playing with the tough kids now.”

Another charging attack. Ludger braced for it, taking the slightest step back to fully absorb the power. But the attack wasn’t where he thought it would be - it was toward his breast pocket - toward the rose in particular. He deflected the blow away before sidestepping, before he could even get fully grounded, another strike was coming, this one toward his throat.  He managed to get one of his blades up to protect his face. But the strike was arcing down to his chest. Once again, Ludger darted back out of range, eyes narrowed.

Seemed he had to cut the rose off of Ali’s pocket.

Easy enough.

“So how’d you get that ring anyway? Only student council members are allowed them.” Ali circled around, face set in a wicked smirk. Seemed he like to hear his own voice.

“Family heirloom.” Ludger followed Ali’s motions, the whole time he was carefully watching for any indication that Ali was going to attack. The slightest tensing of muscles, a shift of weight. Anything. But the other man was smooth in his motions, he was clearly a well-trained fighter.

It was clear that Ali was waiting for Ludger to attack. It wasn’t what he _wanted_ to do, it could easily be a trap of some sort. The last thing he wanted to do was walk straight into a trap and have his rose cut from his chest. But there was no sense in continuing this circle, nothing would get done, Ludger’s patience would fade, and then he’d do something rash and stupid. At least he was still calm for the moment. That meant it was time to go on the offensive, right?

He darted in, eyes trained on the center of Ali’s torso, that way he could see every limb on the other man’s body. That meant he could watch for telegraph, any slight hint of movement. And Ludger saw it; he saw the tension in Ali’s sword arm, the slightest of preparations for a thrusting strike. He stopped short of Ali, quickly changing his momentum to the right, away from Ali’s sword arm.

He didn’t see the movement of Ali’s leg.

He didn’t see the leg shifting into the position for a roundhouse.

His breath hissed from his lungs as shin connected with his diaphragm. There was going to be a bruise from that, he knew it. It might even have bruised straight down to the ribs. Ludger forced himself to breath, blinking back reflexive tears from having the wind knocked out of him. There was no time to focus on the pain. There was only time to react.

He was never more thankful that he had such ingrained blocking reaction. The strike Ali was throwing, a downward slash toward Ludger’s chest, was blocked with both swords. His arms were shaking from the force of it, his chest heaving as he desperately tried to ventilate.

This fight wasn’t going to last much longer. Ludger’s ribs were aching, throbbing just from the effort of keeping Ali’s sword away from his chest. Away from other vital bits - somehow Ludger thought Ali wouldn’t be above _actually_ harming his opponent to get what he wanted. Even though this was merely a duel.

But Ali’s actions had given Ludger an idea.

It might not work, but if it did, Ludger would get the upper hand.

He was still, save for his shaking, before abruptly booting Ali in the gut. Once his leg was in motion, his arms dropped from their blocking position, moving in tandem with his body, adding just a bit more power to the strike. Ludger watched as his opponent stumbled back several feet, Ali’s watchful green eyes finally somewhere _other_ than Ludger.

“You little son of a bitch, you’ll _pay_ for that…” Ali’s voice was strangled as he tried to straighten up, an arm wrapped around his abdomen.

Ludger was already in motion. He moved in as close as he could, arm planted across Ali’s shoulders before he hooked his leg behind one of Ali’s. Push and pull action - and without much fanfare, Ali was sprawled on his arse on the ground.

It seemed that Ali had been underestimating him - thinking that all he could do was dodge and parry. But Julius had taught him well. Ludger could fight. And he could fight just as dirty as anyone else.

Ludger didn’t waste any time in moving in close, shoe hovering over Ali’s throat as a reminder that he _could_ end this in a much more violent way. He made eye contact as he used the tip of one of his swords to flick the red rose from Ali’s chest.

“And Ludger Kresnik is the winner of this duel.” Setsuna’s voice was soft, a bit distant.

He finally let himself relax, turning away from Ali to go and join Setsuna, to make sure he was okay. He half expected Ali to attack him while his back was turned, but for now? For now it seemed he was in the clear.

“Alright Setsuna, let’s get out of here.” Ludger’s face softened as he walked over to his friend. “I’ll make us dinner.”


End file.
